2000–2001 fires in the Western United States

The fire season of 2000 and 2001 in the Western United States caused 2 billion dollars in damageFact|date=November 2007 and resulted in the deaths of four firefighters.Fact|date=November 2007

Causes

There were three main reasons for the sheer magnitude of the fires of 2000 and 2001.Fact|date=November 2007

El Niño

The El Niño is likely the main cause of the ferocity of the fires.Fact|date=November 2007 The El Niño is a weather system which forms a pool of cold water in the Pacific Ocean. This stops warm air from creating wind and rain and affects weather patterns on a global scale. The absence of rain on the west coast creates drought-like conditions, the dry vegetation becomes fuel for the fires. Dry fuel ignites and burns much easier, creating a perfect place for fires to start.

Excess fuel

The second reason for these fires is the excess fuel that there was in in 2000 and 2001.Fact|date=November 2007 When forest fires start naturally, they are usually relatively small occurrences which do little but burn up small amounts of combustible debris and small amounts of brush on the forest floor. They rarely catch on to trees and usually burn themselves out quickly. People have been putting out these fires for many years because they are small, easy to extinguish and often threaten property. However, when the accumulated fuel does ignite, it starts huge wildfires, which are hard to put out. In recent years, fire experts have seen this disturbing trend and countered it with prescribed burning (also known as controlled burns). This is a tactic in which people purposely set fires to burn the combustible debris. Prescribed burns have greatly diminished at the time due to cuts in federal funding.Fact|date=November 2007

High human population

The third reason for the wildfires of 2000 and 2001 is the sheer concentration of people living and camping in the western forests at the time.Fact|date=November 2007 Only a small percentage of wildfires are started naturally by causes such as lightning. The vast majority is caused by human carelessness.Fact|date=November 2007

References

* Lorch, Donatella, and Mark Matthews. "Flaming Fury." -Newsweek- 21 August 2000: 58-59.
* White, Katherine. -The 2000-2002 Forest Fires in the Western United States.- New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2004.
* Engelbett, Phillis. "Wildfire." -Dangerous Planet The Science of Natural Disasters.- Vol.3. Ed. Phillis Engelbert. Detroit: The Gale Group, 2001